Scott Morrison kept busy by coronavirus, Bridget McKenzie dramas

Cartoon: Eric Lobbecke

The coronavirus is causing almost every country in the world to look again at how effective their Customs laws and health rules will be in offering their nations reasonable protection. In my 70 years I can recall a few scares of this kind but none of them as serious as this one. This virus is just too easy to catch, and for the very young and the elderly can present a life-threatening challenge.

Wuhan is yet another one of those very large Chinese cities that had not been on my radar until a matter of weeks ago. Suddenly it is the subject of the entire world’s discussion. Totalitarian regimes do not have a history of being open to the world and never more so than when something goes very badly amiss.

We have no way of knowing how long it is since this really ­started or how many Chinese citizens have been infected. The ­regime will always try to exempt ­itself from criticism and that always means that getting the truth is like pulling teeth.

Before this kerfuffle there were 43 flights a day between China and Australia. It will be quite some time before that kind of crowded schedule is reached again. I went to my favourite Chinese restaurant one night this week and the owner told me his business had taken a big hit. Over the next hour or two I did my best to ensure he made a profit.

No doubt every section of the tourism industry is doing it tough, be they travel agents, airlines, hire cars, buses, restaurants, galleries and museums. Scott Morrison is correct in opting for an “abundance of caution” in formulating Australia’s response.

That is not the only problem the Prime Minister has to deal with at the moment. The other mess comes from within and breaks his record of hanging on to his ministers.

Bridget McKenzie has landed herself and the government into all sorts of strife. Not only did she ignore advice on the sports grants, she managed to send the relevant documents when the government was in caretaker mode.

Now I read the Prime Minister’s office exchanged 136 emails with government colleagues about where all the money went. Giving ministers unfettered power to spend money without proper evaluation of the program on which it will be spent is a hit-and- miss idea. When a prime minister goes off the reservation, as Malcolm Turnbull did when he gave almost $500m to a little-known charity — the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, with just six staff — to look after the vast reef, it is not a good look for anyone. The outfit had little expertise to do the job. This grant was unpardonable. Never before or since has a huge sum like that been thrown at people so unprepared or inexperienced to do the job. They may have had good intentions but the grantees were “all at sea” on what their role should be.

Labor has a reputation as the party you should be reluctant to trust minding the national till but I can’t imagine a Labor person treating public funds with such little respect. You might wonder how much this really matters. To me it matters a great deal because enormous trust is placed in governments, which are given the task of managing huge sums of money.

Now, recently, when asked about Sir John Kerr sacking Gough Whitlam, a host of young people to whom I was speaking had no idea what I was talking about. It was clear evidence Australia’s history must be given a greater role in our school curriculum in Australia. There is a big gap in our learning after we are taught about the roles of James Cook and ­Arthur Phillip. Schools know nothing about how Federation came about and how our earliest parliaments worked. Too many believe Australian history began at Anzac Cove because teaching about World War I is the earliest Australian history our kids learn. And when we get back to Australian history, can we also get back to teaching English grammar? We have adopted the ghastly American practice of eliminating the G from the “ing” in our present participles. And I have come to the conclusion that the word “you” can no longer be used as a plural. That horrible “youse” is what you hear these days. I don’t care if I am labelled old-fashioned, or even worse, there is no excuse for speaking poor English.